Trenard Nunley told the jury in his child abuse trial Wednesday 3-year-old Jalen Shaw’s burns were accidental because he put the boy in the bathtub one January day a year ago without checking the water’s temperature.

Nunley took the stand in his own defense to end the second day of his trial, after a half-dozen of his relatives testified that they never saw any indication that either Jalen, or girlfriend Candace Sanders were afraid of him.

Nunley is accused of immersing Jalen in scalding water, causing second- and third-degree burns on the boy’s legs and lower torso.

Both sides will put expert medical witnesses on the stand today; the case could go to the jury later in the day.

Neither expert witness was available earlier in the trial. District Judge Jim Bob Darnell allowed the prosecution to finish the rest of its case-in-chief and let the defense proceed Wednesday.

Defense attorney David Crook indicated he intends to call no other witnesses.

Nunley was on the stand for nearly 90 minutes, describing the accident and the activity that followed.

Sanders, who is also facing a single count of knowingly or willingly injuring a child, testified for the prosecution earlier in the day.

She initially tried to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but Darnell granted her immunity to compel her testimony in the case.

Lead prosecutor Sunshine Stanek said no deals were made with Sanders for her testimony in the case.

No trial date has been set in Sanders’ case, which also is assigned to Darnell’s calendar.

Knowingly or willingly injuring a child is a first-degree felony, with a sentence range of five to 99 years, or life in prison.

Nunley said that on the afternoon of Jan. 16, 2012, he drew two baths for Jalen, who needed to be cleaned up after wetting his pants. Sanders was at work at the time.

Jalen had been in the tub about two minutes the first time when he wanted to get out again to urinate.

While he did that, Nunley said, the boy told him “it was cold.”

Nunley said he wasn’t sure if Jalen meant the bath water, or the temperature in general, and drained the tub.

He said he set the water to a warmer temperature and made the second bath.

He said he put Jalen in it, told him to stay in the tub and left the bathroom to retrieve something else.

When he returned to the bathroom, Nunley said, he found Jalen in an awkward position — his hands and feet were on the sides of the tub, out of the water, but his pelvis and lower torso were still immersed.

“He said, ‘It’s hot, Tre,’” Nunley said.

Nunley and Sanders, who at least one witness said had been considering marriage, each said the other concocted the cover-up story after they realized how badly Jalen was burned.

Nunley testified that Sanders said they had to lie about what happened because she had already had a run-in with Child Protective Services, and “they would take Jalen.”

He admitted to going along with the plan, even telling differing stories to the emergency medical technicians who took Jalen to University Medical Center and two Lubbock police detectives assigned to the case because “I loved Jalen and Candace so much I was willing to do anything to keep from getting Jalen took.”

Crook and prosecutors Sunshine Stanek and Barron Slack agreed to a stipulation that CPS had no contact with Sanders until Jalen was injured.

Sanders said she wanted to get medical help for the badly burned boy but Nunley wouldn’t let her. And, she said, she didn’t try — even while Nunley was at work that night — because she was afraid of him.